Background
Development of Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) has been identified as a thrust area. These are very large sized projects, approximately 4000 MW each involving an estimated investment of about Rs. 16,000 crore.
These projects will meet the power needs of a number of States/ distribution companies located in these States, and are being developed on a Build, Own, and Operate (BOO) basis.
In view of the fact that promotion of competition is one of the key objectives of the Electricity Act, 2003, and of the legal provisions regarding procurement of electricity by distribution companies, identification of the project developer for these projects is being done on the basis of tariff based competitive bidding. Guidelines for determination of tariff for procurement of power by distribution licencees have been notified in January 2005 under the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003. The Power Finance Corporation (PFC), a PSU under the Ministry of Power, has been identified as the nodal agency for this initiative.
Salient features of the Plant and Choice of Technology
The Ultra Mega Power Projects would use Super Critical Technology with a view to achieve higher levels of fuel efficiency, which results in saving of fuel and lower green-house gas emissions.
- Flexibility in unit size subject to adoption of specified minimum Supercritical parameters.
- Integrated power project with dedicated captive coal blocks for pithead projects.
- Coastal projects to use imported coal.
Selection of Sites for Setting up of UMPPs
Nine such projects had been identified to be taken up, 4 at pithead and 5 at coastal locations. The nine sites for the UMPPs identified by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in consultation with the States are as follows:-
I. Five coastal sites at:-
- Mundra in Gujarat,
- Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh,
- Tadri in Karnataka,
- Girye in Maharashtra, and
- Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu.
II. Four pithead sites at :-
- Sasan in Madhya Pradesh,
- Tilaiya in Jharkhand,
- Sundergarh District in Orissa and
- Akaltara in Chhattisgarh.
Additionally:
- Marakanam in Tamil Nadu
- Ghataprabha in Andhra Pradades
Concept of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)
PFC has set up separate Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for each of the 9 UMPPs identified so far to act as authorized representatives of the procurers (distribution companies of the power procuring States). These SPVs are 100% owned subsidiaries of the PFC.
On completion of the entire process for selection of the project developer, the SPVs are to be transferred to the selected bidders i.e. to the selected project developers.